


Battling the Beast

by PandaFalls



Category: OC House, The House at Panda Falls
Genre: Explicit Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-28
Updated: 2015-12-28
Packaged: 2018-05-10 01:24:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5563375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PandaFalls/pseuds/PandaFalls





	Battling the Beast

Both Michael and Typhus knew well that there is no escaping a war. Once you've lived through it, it lives through you. Erik and the family did pretty well at supporting Michael while he battled PTSD. They made sure he always had ear protection on hand and banned things like fireworks from the family's property in the woods unless other circumstances allowed for such things.  
  
Typhus was a little different. Not only did he do everything he could to keep his issues private, but he was very stubborn in insisting that he would accept help from no one but Athanas. The boy was very practiced at calming the soldier on the uncommon occasion that the old memories would ignite his eyes with a firey bloodlust. Some days he could lay the man down on the bed and stroke his hair while he sang Latin songs in Typhus's ear to drown out the sound of screaming people and clashing weapons. Other days Typhus wouldn't recognize his fiance and Athanas would have to turn ferocious to keep from turning into the war-monger's prey. The boy hated those days with every fiber of his being, but Typhus had trained him well and he knew how to hurt the soldier enough to startle him from his hunting mode. Other days it was a simple matter of Athanas spreading his legs and letting Typhus vent. No matter what the case, the soldier was always certain to apologize over and over when the fire finally died away. Though all of these incidents were becoming less and less common over time, Typhus knew Athanas didn't deserve to be put through any of it. There were no bounds to the gratitude that he felt when Athanas forgave him every time and told the soldier he still loved him.  
  
One day, the beast paid a visit when Athanas was not around.  
  
Typhus awoke from a nap with a start, his heart beating fast from a recurring battlefield nightmare. As he sat up and opened his eyes, he became aware of the adrenaline pumping through his veins and the red in his vision. This time around, he could tell that this was wrong. He was breathing heavily through his nose, seething war but seeing domestic order all around him. Nightstand... Lamp... Bathrobe... Bed... He could see that he wasn't on the battlefield, but he couldn't calm down. He needed Athanas, but the boy wasn't in the bed next to him. If he opened his mouth to try to call the boy, he was afraid he would yell too loud and alert the house. Typhus sat there for several minutes, hoping to ride through this feeling alone, but he had never been able to make it go away without a vent or other outside influence. The longer it lasted, the harder it became to think. Finally, the beast stood Typhus up and sent him out of the room.  
  
...  
  
It was a relatively peaceful evening in the house. Michael was cheering on a baseball team from the living room couch and Sigma was keeping him company. Erik and Barnaby were at the dining room table snacking on leftovers and Zenith was sniffing at all the scents around the kitchen, giving a jumpy start at the sound of the refrigerator turning on a new cooling cycle. The rest of the pack had already left, but the bat hybrid had decided to spend one more day with her old alpha, especially since the time machine could drop her back in the future at the same time as the others. As for the rest of the family, they had gone grocery shopping, which tended to be a bit of a trip due to the house's geographical disconnect from the rest of suburban civilization.  
  
Barnaby didn't look up from his plate of chicken when Typhus first came in, largely ignoring the man's presence until he began to sense the soldier's tense stance. Typhus was just standing in one place, fists clenched as he took deep quiet breaths through his nose. Barnaby's eyes lifted and trailed upwards, jumping from the man's fists to his heaving chest to his clenched jaw and finally to his eyes. Shit. Barnaby knew that look. Typhus seemed to be fighting his current mood as best as he could, but this is probably what he needed Athanas for on those days when the two had to quickly retreat into their bedroom early. Athanas was off shopping though. Shit.  
  
With a sigh, Barnaby took one last bite of chicken and set down his fork, reluctantly lifting himself away from his food and onto his feet. "Alright, fuck face," he murmured as his chair scraped against the floor and settled. "Let's take this outside."  
  
Typhus's eyes snapped towards the insult, honing in on Barnaby as the last of the Roman's control was slowly suffocated into nothingness. He stepped towards the man and followed his quarry as it began to move. He was in a killing mood now.  
  
...  
  
Barnaby whipped his leg up and around, catching the growling soldier in the jaw and knocking the man flat. Typhus was dazed, but something pushing him to move, his limbs faintly writhing as the beast in him tried to pull him back into the fight as quickly as possible.  
  
"Christ, yew just don't quit, do you?" Barnaby stood over Typhus as he reached up and put his hand on his other arm, letting out a small growl as he snapped his own arm back into his shoulder joint. That was gonna bruise for sure. His throbbing nose was pouring blood and his face looked about as beat as ground beef, but Typhus looked just as bad. It was really hard to fight this guy's ferocity without breaking the man's bones or doing other permanent damage, but so far Barnaby had done alright. He was surprised at Typhus's endurance, honestly. Barnaby had seen the war rise up in the man's eyes in the middle of a fight before, but it had always been just a little bit. Easy enough to vent and die out, unlike now.  
  
Barnaby kicked the soldier over onto his stomach and pulled the man into an arm lock, digging his knee into Typhus's back and grabbing at his hair while his other hand held the lock firmly. "Quit strugglin', dammit! Typhus, fucking snap yerself outta this! I don't wanna get either one of us more hurt than we already are! Typhus!" It was like Typhus wasn't even there. Barnaby might as well have spent the last half hour fighting a wild bear in a man's body, or maybe one of those fuckin' psycho druggies that you see on the news. Maybe if someone had caught this earlier it wouldn't have compounded into what was ruling Typhus now, but Barnaby wasn't the kind to dwell on the "could have"s. Sigma had already called Poet to bring Athanas back and Barnaby had already ordered everyone else to not intervene, so the best he could do now was stall and wait.  
  
The flash of headlights in the dark momentarily blinded Barnaby, but he held his stance firmly and continued to press the soldier down into the dirt. "Typhus!" The sound of Athanas's panicked voice rang through the night like music in the tired Barnaby's ears. Finally. "Typhus, it's me!"  
  
Typhus gave a growl and continued to struggle, so Barnaby used his grip to slam the man's face down into the grass a few times. "PAY ATTENTION!" he bellowed down at the groaning Roman as he lifted the man's head to face Athanas once more.  
  
Athanas gasped to see Barnaby's treatment of the boy's fiance, but he understood all too well. If Typhus had stewed under the influence of that broken fight or flight instinct for long, then almost any injury to the man was justified to try to break the beast's vice-like grip on the civil side of the man's mind. Hurriedly the boy dropped to his knees and reached out for Typhus, putting his hands to the man's cheeks as he began to speak. At first it seemed like the boy's soothing words were having no effect, but soon Typhus's struggles began to die down until he was lying completely still. Panting, Barnaby let go of the man's head and watched it flop back down onto the ground with a soft [i]whump[/i]. Typhus rolled his head to the side, his bruised eyes only half open and unfocused as he took deep breaths. "...Barnaby..." His voice was tired and worn, the voice of a man who was finally feeling his injuries.  
  
Barnaby heaved a great groan of relief and let go of the Roman, rolling down onto the grass and closing his eyes as he began to try to catch his breath. "Fuck... Fuck that shit... Jesus fucking goddamn christ...  
  
...  
  
"Typhus, I don't care what yew think about modern doctors anymore. Yer seeing a goddamn shrink and a psychologist and yer getting the help you need, whether yew fuckin' like it or not."  
  
"I know..." Typhus lifted his hands away from his steaming mug of tea to cover his bruising face, his fingers lightly pressing into the uninjured parts of his forehead as he let out a distressed sigh. It had been a day since the incident and everyone around the house was watching the soldier with wary eyes, just as he had been afraid of during all those times that he had made sure to keep his issues private. Right now it was just him and Barnaby in the kitchen, but Athanas was close by making dinner. "I am sorry. I swear to you, I did not mean to... to do any of that. I tried to get rid of it when it started. I really did."  
  
Barnaby set down his whiskey glass. "Yeah, that's yer other goddamn problem, Aurelius. Yew need to find us when you need help. No more of this hiding away and letting things get outta control. None of that fuckin' bullshit anymore."  
  
"I did not want to entangle you into my... mess."  
  
"We're your family, dammit. We're all tangled in each other's messes anyway, and we like it that way. Now are you gonna act like family or are you gonna wait til our next fight teh the death teh decide?"  
  
Typhus gave a grimace and turned to the side in his chair, clearly uncomfortable with the conversation. "Alright! Alright. I understand. I'm sorry."  
  
"I know." Typhus looked up at Barnaby as the man stood and walked around the table to sit in the chair next to him. He reached out a hand and squeezed the Roman's shoulder, offering a half-smile. "We'll get you through this, okay? It's not a crime to need help, but Imma beat your face in next time you try to go without it."  
  
Typhus gave a small, pained laugh. "You have already done that."  
  
"Yeah, well I'll do it worse. Hey... You know we all still like yeh, right?"  
  
"I... suppose. Thank you Barnaby. You, uh... you really surprised me yesterday. Savage."  
  
Barnaby gave a grin.


End file.
